


Exodus

by stardustgirl



Series: The Twisting Morn [3]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: (also he misses his mom and dad a lot), (and he wants a dog), (kind of), Adopted Children, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Beating, Bigotry & Prejudice, Birthday, Bullying, Children, Crying, Dogs, Drowning, Ezra Bridger Needs a Hug, Ezra's 8-9, Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, Fist Fights, Guardian-Ward Relationship, Heavy Angst, Hurt Ezra Bridger, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Jealousy, Psychic Bond, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019, Young Ezra Bridger, as in one (1) dog but
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 05:07:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21247949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: "You don’t need to be scared of him anymore.”The way he says that makes Ezra uneasy.|~~~|Still in denial of his recently discovered abilities, Ezra makes a series of mistakes leading to a major decision.





	Exodus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dessa/gifts).

> Shoutout to Dessa for answering my question "what Whumptober prompt(s) should I do next for the medieval magic AU" with a list of prompts plus a general plotline that resulted in this fic yeettt.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fills for Whumptober for the following:
> 
> "Muffled Scream"  
"Humiliation"  
"Pinned Down"  
"Trembling"  
"Winded" (alternate prompt)  
"Bound" (alternate prompt)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Restraint, Bullying, Fighting Between Children, Fighting Between a Child and a Teenager, Gagging of a Child

Ezra hasn’t had this much money at one time since before he was taken from his parents.

And of all people, Thrawn is the last person he would expect to receive said money from.

But still, the marks are there, jangling faintly in his pocket. He allows himself a grin and starts whistling tunelessly to himself as he walks to town. He reaches the square soon enough and glances around, searching for the market he spotted with Eli on their weekly trip a few days prior. Thankfully, Eli and Thrawn didn’t make him bring a chaperone—likely only since it’s his birthday, but still, he’d rather be thankful for the small lapse in their judgement than have it be gone—but that also makes it harder to find what he’s looking for.

He ends up finding the market after a long while of searching and his grin widens. Ezra hurries down the long street until he reaches the livestock section, smiling at the cows. He reaches a hand out to pet one’s nose before the man with them steps forward.

“Back, street rat, unless you’re here to buy one.”

“I’m not a street rat!” he protests. The man only raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t see no parents, so no home. Scram.”

Ezra’s gaze darkens into a glare but he leaves anyway, casting one last look at the cows’ soft faces.

The other animal sellers react in much the same way. Ezra genuinely fears for his life when the chicken lady catches him watching her birds and he takes off running, not stopping until he reaches an alley several streets away. He leans against the wall and places his hands on his knees, breathing hard. He doesn’t have enough money to buy any of the animals there—beyond maybe a chicken or two, but it would only be a matter of time until it “accidentally” got cooked anyway—so he’s not sure why he wanted to see them.

Until the dog barks.

His head whips around so fast it hurts, and he pushes off from the wall. He leaves the alley, peering around the corner to see a trio of boys tossing a stick for a scruffy brown dog further down the street.

Ezra’s grin returns.

* * *

“Why is my dog following you more than me?”

Ezra turns to see the mutt trailing behind him, tail relaxed and tongue lolling out of her mouth. She barks, wagging her tail slightly as she moves up into a jog to reach Ezra. The boy shrugs. “I dunno,” he answers honestly, reaching down to pet her. She nudges his leg with her head happily before loping ahead along the path, turning back to bark again. “Maybe she just likes me.”

“No, I don’t think so. Sky doesn’t like _ anyone._ _Except _ me.”

“Then how do you know she even likes you?”

“She just does,” the boy answers, shrugging. “Watch.” His voice raises in pitch as he calls excitedly to the dog, “C’mere girl, c’mere Sky! Come on!”

She stops but still doesn’t make a move to return to him, only cocking her head in apparent confusion.

“Come on Sky!”

The two boys behind Sky’s owner glance at each other before looking at Ezra with wary gazes. “How are you doing that?” the younger asks.

Ezra shrugs again. “Dunno.” In all honesty, he _ isn’t _ sure why Sky is opting to stay with him. The mutt has a person, and though Ezra would love his own dog, he doesn’t need to make more enemies by taking someone else’s.

“Something must be wrong with you then. Sky doesn’t leave his side for anything.”

“Except me, clearly,” Ezra shoots back. His hair stands on end without warning. Something is about to happen, and he’s getting the feeling he’s not going to like it.

Sky’s boy takes a step toward Ezra. “What’d you just say?”

“I said your dog must like me a lot,” he answers. Technically, he _ did _ say that, in a roundabout way.

The other kid’s face reddens.

“Take it back.”

“No.”

“I said take it back!”

“And I said no!”

Sky moves out of the way as the other boy approaches Ezra, glaring at him. His two friends approach, standing slightly behind Ezra. He tries not to show his uneasiness at the arrangement. “Take it back _ now!_”

“I’m not gonna when it’s the truth!”

“Well there’s no way Sky would follow _ you _ over _ me _ unless…” he trails off.

_ Leave. _Now.

Ezra doesn’t leave.

“You’re a faerie!” one of the other kids yells. Ezra shakes his head wildly.

“I’m not!”

“Yeah you are! It’s obvious!”

“I said I’m _ not!_”

One of the boys shoves him from behind. Ezra stumbles forward before whipping around, teeth bared in a growl. “I told you I’m _ not!_”

“You just growled at Nicol! Humans don’t growl!”

Ezra lunges for the boy speaking—coincidentally Sky’s owner, he realizes distantly—yelling wordlessly as he knocks him to the ground and starts raining blows on the boy. “I’m not a _ faerie!_” he yells.

He can hear the other boys yelling, as if from a distance, and failed attempts to pull him off the now-crying boy. He shoves them off, throwing a punch randomly at one before returning his attention to the kid.

Without warning, a pair of rough hands grab him by the arms and drag him away from his victim. He’s thrown onto his back and a knee presses down on his chest, his other assailant pinning his arms to the ground above his head. He doesn’t recognize either person, though clearly they recognize him with the way they’re glaring at him.

“Get _ off _ me!” he yells, shoving up against them. The one pinning his wrists merely tightens his grip, the other just pressing his knee down until Ezra can hardly breathe.

“Get a couple ropes,” the one pinning his arms calls to the group. One of the younger boys nods and runs off, and Ezra takes the chance to twist his wrists quick enough to loosen the teen’s grip. He kicks out at the one holding him down with a knee and gets him off balance just enough to get up.

Ezra staggers to his feet, moving to run until a couple of the kids his age grab him and push him back toward his former assailants. One of them shoves him to the ground, face first this time, and holds him there.

Ezra stops struggling.

The boy who went to get the rope returns, tossing it to someone out of his field of vision. He shoves Ezra’s face into the dirt until he can’t see before tying his wrists tightly enough that he knows there’ll be bruises there tomorrow.

Finally they pull him back up by his shirt collar until he’s on his knees, spitting out dirt and trying to rub his eyes off on his shoulder.

“Wait, is he _ crying?_”

Laughter bubbles up and out of the crowd surrounding him as Ezra tries desperately to wipe his eyes off. “I’m—“

He can’t say the words.

His eyes widen as he realizes he can’t deny the accusation, that he can’t tell them he’s not crying. Swallowing hard, he settles for the next best thing and shakes his head wildly.

“Just let me go!”

“Nah, I think we’re having too much fun.” The speaker nudges him in the back with a toe, laughing when he starts to sway forward. “Look, he can’t even hold himself up straight.”

“It’s just be– because I’m tired and hurting and—“

“Baby needs a nap?” the older boy asks, chuckling. “I’m sure we could help you with that.” He knocks Ezra onto his back, placing a booted foot on his chest and slowly increasing the pressure. When he realizes what’s happening, Ezra starts panicking and thrashing at the same time he begins to cough.

“Eww, he’s gonna make us fae with his coughing!” one of the younger kids yells, pointing at Ezra. The older teens glance at each other.

“Knife,” one says. The other pulls the requested weapon out of his boot, passing it over. The teen kneels before shoving Ezra into a sitting position again. He does something Ezra can’t see before moving around to the front and tearing a strip off the hem of Ezra’s tunic. He flinches, nearly falling again. The teen shoves the fabric into his mouth, pushing the rope in after and tying it tightly behind Ezra’s head. The boy’s eyes widen when he realizes he can’t breathe out of his mouth anymore. He tries to scream, to yell at them to take it off, but the gag turns every noise he makes into a muffled whimper.

They’re laughing even harder now.

One of the teens glances up at the sky, frowning. “It’s getting late. You guys head back home,” he says, returning his attention to the kids Ezra’s age. One opens his mouth to protest but he raises a hand, shaking his head. “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of the faerie. You don’t need to be scared of him anymore.”

The way he says that makes Ezra uneasy.


End file.
